From the days of Gilgamesh, every hero has been defined by those they call sidekicks. Sherlock has Watson. Frodo has Sam. Batman has Robin. Captain America has the Falcon... need I go on? These comrades in arms stand by our title characters as they valiantly hold the line against the forces of darkness in the name of all we hold dear. But more than that, they imbue these champions — in their capes, armor and deerstalker hats — with a humanity and vulnerability that any great story needs to pull us in.
Of course, some stories need companions more than others. Superman bills himself as a friend to the common man, so he does not need a surrogate to humanize him to the reader the way Batman or Sherlock do. And if any protagonist in time or space needs a companion to bring out their human side, it has to be Doctor Who.
The Doctor is a madman in a box — just ask him. His character is so hardwired to need a dramatic foil that even a single day without a companion by his side can turn him into a menace even to himself. On the other hand, as Captain Kirk himself once phrased it, Star Trek characters are often unable to see past their own uniform. So finding a Star Trek character who could accompany the Doctor on their adventures is no small task. After much soul searching, these are my first round draft choices:
Dr. Bashir
When Julian Bashir is first introduced in 1993, the good doctor represented something new for the Star Trek franchise: a socially inept authority figure who wasn’t an alien or a Soong-type android. At first, Bashir is a clownish, well-intentioned romantic hungry to be the hero. Initially, Bashir is unable to make friends, but slowly and surely charms his way into the good graces of his fellow officers on Deep Space 9.
Particularly because of his friendship with Chief O’Brien — to say nothing of his relationship with a certain Cardassian tailor that has been mythologized to the point of an elevated meme — and Bashir’s efforts to endear himself to his crew eventually pay off handsomely. And like any good Doctor Who companion worth their salt, Bashir always cares a great deal about others and is always ready and eager to step in and help out in a crisis, never willing to abandon his friends to face the monster of the week on their own.
But as we come to know him over the years, something begins to change in Bashir’s boyish persona. But by bit, he begins to harden into a more serious person. Like so many companions before him, the human cost of his adventures begins to weigh more and more heavily on his conscience.
What starts as a chance to prove his worth eventually turns into a job with life and death consequences, and like many companions — the ones who survive their time with the Doctor, anyway — he slowly allows himself to mature over the course of his adventures into a wiser, more level-headed man.
And like several of the Doctor’s companions, Bashir is also a medical professional, which gives him a certain emotional inoculation against one experience the Doctor knows all too well: losing innocent people on his watch.
Brad Boimler
This one is too easy. With the kind of manic, career-minded instincts that would make Dwight Shrute proud, Bradward Boimler is a consummate overachiever who hungers for self-realization and fulfillment with every waking breath. Brad's hyper-caffeinated energy that only a cartoon character could pull off — or so I thought — is thankfully matched by good his intentions.
But critically, Brad is one of Star Trek’s few main characters who is already something of a companion to begin with. He is always running after Beckett Mariner on her adventures and balancing out her selfish choices with his perennial self-negation and C-3PO-like appeals to reason.
While Brad is something of a coward — though ever less so with each passing year — he is always willing to stand up for his friends, and is possessed with laser focused, almost otherworldly determination to achieve his objectives.
And perhaps most importantly, Brad would be able to play off the Doctor’s quirky energy with the kind of reference-laced ad-libs that only Jack Quaid could come up with.
Dr. McCoy
Doctor Leonard McCoy is also a medical professional like Bashir, and also takes on a companion role to Mr. Spock like Boimler does with Mariner. But unlike both of them, McCoy comes pre-equipped with something that neither men can take for granted: social skills. A self-proclaimed old country doctor, Bones prides himself in a kind of laid back worldliness that doesn’t often come naturally to Starfleet officers.
A man with a strong moral compass, McCoy always listens to his gut first and foremost. In a crisis, he can usually be seen standing over Captain Kirk’s shoulder, advocating for him to make the most empathetic decision possible — which makes him and Spock, the USS Enterprise’s most reliable logician, natural foils for each other.
If there is a moral conundrum, McCoy and Spock will likely but heads, and though Spock is often right — and even more often gets the last word — McCoy’s pathos makes him a natural audience surrogate who balances out Spock’s cold demeanor and allows him to retain his humanity without ever flying off into psychopathy.
As such, McCoy would perhaps play the most important role of a companion: leading with their heart, giving the Doctor and the audience someone human enough to care about.
Well, Trekkies and Whovians, do you agree with our list? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
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